Walmart workers upset over Thanksgiving duty

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some local Walmart workers are unhappy about having to work on Thanksgiving. "I'm being ordered to work on Thanksgiving," a Louisville Walmart worker told WDRB News on Thursday.

We are concealing his identity because he is afraid of being fired for talking with WDRB, so we are calling him Joe.

Joe says Walmart has been open on Thanksgiving Day for years, but this year is different. "Up until this point it was voluntary to work on Thanksgiving," says Joe. "It is no longer voluntary, I have plans for that day that involve family and I won't be working."

Family may have to take a back seat to the fierce competition among retailers for the consumer's dollar. Since there are fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, retailers are doing all they can to get customers into their stores.

So they are adding store hours on Thanksgiving weekend, including the holiday itself. "I hope people boycott Thanksgiving Day shopping and stay home with their families," says Joe.

Joe says he has talked with his fellow workers who feel the same way.

"I've noticed since the schedule came out that the majority of my fellow Walmart workers that their morale is rock bottom," adds Joe.

He says up until now he liked his job with Walmart but thinks the company has now gone too far. He says he will spend Thanksgiving with his family knowing it could cost him his job.

A Walmart spokesperson responded to WDRB's request for a statement: "Most of our stores have been open 24 hours a day since 1988. Historically, much of our Black Friday preparation has been done on Thanksgiving, which is not unusual in the retail industry. As we have in the past, we'll be recognizing their hard work with additional pay, free meals during their shifts, and a 25 percent discount on an entire basket of goods this holiday season."